Response to Inspector General Report Entitled “A Review of Allegations of a Double Standard of Discipline in the FBI”

Washington, D.C.
November 16, 2002

FBI National Press Office(202) 324-3691

In response to concerns raised in the past about the fairness of the FBI's disciplinary system, the Bureau has already instituted reforms within the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). These reforms first instituted in March 1997, and even today continue to be reviewed. Disciplinary procedures in the FBI's Senior Executive Service (SES) mirror those which are applicable to all non-SES Bureau employees, except when limited by statutory mandate. For example, an automated precedent base ensures that results of past disciplinary decisions can be drawn upon to ensure a fair application of discipline today and in the future.

These reforms seek to achieve the FBI's goal of giving all employees and the American public complete confidence in the FBI's disciplinary system. The mission of the FBI OPR is to fairly and expeditiously identify misconduct wherever it occurs within the organization, and to appropriately punish the involved persons without fear or favor to anyone.